He finally looked up, put the cap on the red marker in his hand, and gave me his undivided attention. Great. The dark frames around his eyes made the blue pop, and I begged my cheeks to behave and not give me away. No more blushing for the love of the gods. He patiently waited for me to get a hold of myself, but the only thing I could think of was the damned hoodie.
He wanted it back, of course he did. But did it have to be now? It was cold outside, and I had a decent walk ahead of me. The longer I stood there, the more I risked drawing attention to an already humiliating moment. I grabbed at the hem of the sweatshirt and lifted. A deep chuckle stopped me before the material passed my boobs.
“Not the damn jacket, Eryn.” Kai’s shoulders shook with mirth, and I blinked at how it transformed his face. “The one-on-one, you need to sign up for yours.”
“Right,” I mumbled. “The meeting. With you.”
He nodded, still laughing. “Yes, the meeting with me.”
“Alone.”
“Alone.”
“To go over the grade of this test,” I added and blushed when his grin got wider. Damn cheeks betraying me again.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were nervous.” The entire conversation was barely loud enough to carry to the other students in the room, but the look on his face would definitely give some of them ideas.
I couldn’t afford for people to think something was going on between us when it wasn’t. The consequence of fraternizing with the TA was probably expulsion, and that would ruin everything. I grabbed the sign-up sheet and hastily scanned it for openings. Crap. Of course, all the good slots were taken. The only ones left were during lunch or late in the evening before the library closed. I scribbled my name beside the late slot, figuring I’d be studying in the library anyway.
Handing the sheet back to him, I glared at the teasing gleam in his eye. “I’m glad you know better. See you on Thursday.”
I ran from the room before he could answer with another taunt. The blast of cold air outside was a shock to the system, but no wind reached me tucked at the top of the stairs. Rani didn’t look that far behind me when I glanced at her test, I’d wait here, and we could walk to lunch together as planned.
Movement on the other side of the landing revealed an orange tabby with a bent tail. The cat hissed when I took a step toward it, but then gave a pitiful meow and limped away. The poor thing looked a wreck. Was it hit by a car? A fight with another stray perhaps? I crouched low and held out my fingers.
“Pspsps, come here little guy.” The cat was unimpressed at my attempt at communication.
It limped further away, heading toward the alley that ran around the back of the building. Careful to only tap into what I needed, I called on my power to try and get a better sense of what was bothering the little guy. Nothing. Frowning, I tried again but was met with silence. That’s weird. I’d never had a problem connecting with an animal before, even with pain medicine running through their system. The little one disappeared around the corner but let out another painful cry.
“Hold on, I’m coming,” I said, already mentally plotting how I’d catch him. Using my backpack as a carrier might work if hewas a feisty one. Not being able to communicate would make him a little more hostile.
Before I could step off the landing, Rani joined me, complaining about the test and how hungry she was. I listened for the cat, but he was long gone, probably scared off by the sound of another person. My disappointment at failing to help an animal in need was strong. This had never happened before.
“Am I supposed to just leave him?” The idea was enough to make me sick to my stomach. It wascoldout.
Rani tried to console me. “There are lots of strays on campus, and they’re well taken care of. If he’s truly injured, it won't be long before the vet students are treating him.”
It didn’t feel right, but short of forcing her to follow me on a hunt through the back alley, there was nothing I could do unless I saw him again. We quickly hit the Commons and boxed our lunch to go, taking it back to the dorm to eat in front of Rani’s TV. It was supposed to be a relaxing afternoon, but then I saw our door.
Some type of sigil was carved into the wood. It was small, too small to be noticed by anyone not looking for it, but I was trained my entire life to keep an eye out for the little details. The sigil was a curved half circle, almost like the letter G, with a string of dots along one side and a couple of strikes through it. I didn’t know what it was for, but I knew what it meant. It meant I wasn’t the only supernatural on campus. It meant whoever was out there knewwhereI was and was one step closer to learning the truth aboutwhoif they hadn’t already. One day into the semester, and I already messed up. Would I ever learn?
five
Kaiden
The djinn were here. I sensed their magick like a sticky film over campus—it felt like walking through fucking spiderwebs. I hated spiders. They had their purpose, particularly in some strong spells I favored, but the whole eight-legs thing? Count me out.
“Gods,” I cursed, stumbling upon another illusion behind the library.
It was too small to register, as were the other illusions we dismantled this week, and therein lay the problem. The djinn were organized and acting under the radar. They were playing smart. Casting an illusion larger than this tabby, or the bunny that Ez found earlier, would alert the supers nearby that they were up to something.
The ugly cat hissed at me and limped under the stairs to get away from the spell I weaved. I smiled. If it was reacting to me, not its intended target, then its caster was nearby and watching. Squeezing the kyanite in my fist, I focused my intent andallowed the crystal to lead me. A thin tendril of my power speared through the illusion, decimating it before continuing on, slithering along the brick in search of its prey.
“Got you,” I murmured and struck. My shadows grew until they wrapped around the djinn like a vengeful python.
Not very intelligent, hiding only a few feet away behind a dumpster, but I guess that was part of the plan. The djinn needed to be close enough to grab my bond once their seriously annoying illusions did their job. Because that's who all these illusions were for: Eryn. Fucking injured animals.Cute, injured animals. She wouldn’t be able to resist. It was equivalent to a van filled with wriggling puppies.
The djinn had certainly done their homework, and any other time, I might have admired them for it. But they were fucking with something that wasmine. I sent a text to Ezra, telling him to meet me. It was pure luck that I caught this one tucked behind the buildings like this. The one Ez snagged two days ago was in the middle of the Commons. That almost got messy. Not that this situation didn’t have its own risks, getting rid of the djinn without anyone seeing being one of them.
